Weekend Recap: Tigers beat Rebels, trio of commits and First Responder Bowl

It was a busy weekend for Memphis athletics as the basketball team defeated Ole Miss 68-57, Ryan Silverfield landed a trio of commits for the 2023 class and it was announced that the football team will play in the Servpro First Responder Bowl.

On Saturday night, the Tigers hosted the Rebels inside the FedExForum, and they came away with an 11-point victory over a solid team. Penny Hardaway’s squad was dominant defensively as they held Ole Miss to 33.3 percent shooting and 57 points. Kendric Davis and Alex Lomax were very impressive in the win, but DeAndre Williams was undoubtedly the story of the game.

The Tigers big man was unstoppable as he finished the game with 17 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. Following the win over the Rebels, Memphis will match up with Arkansas Little Rock on Tuesday night before massive matchups against No. 15 Auburn and No. 11 Alabama.

With the 2023 regular season now over for the football team, the staff quickly turned their primary focus to recruiting. Memphis hosted a list of very impressive visitors over the weekend, and they were able to secure three commitments. Three-star linebacker Karmelo Overton committed on Saturday night, and JUCO offensive lineman Judea Milon and Perry High School cornerback Traveon Wright committed on Sunday.

Overton is now the Tigers highest rated commit for the ’23 class as he is ranked the No. 506 overall player and the No. 45 overall linebacker. Although Milon and Wright are unranked on 247Sports, they are both three-star prospect on Rivals. Milon has been receiving interest from multiple Power Five programs, including Missouri. With the three commits, Memphis’ 2023 class sits at No. 63 overall on 247Sports and No. 47 overall on Rivals.

Over the weekend, it was also announced that the Tigers will play Utah State in the Servpro First Responder Bowl in Dallas, Texas on December 27. With another bowl nod, Memphis has now made it to nine consecutive bowl games which is the ninth longest streak in the country. The Aggies finished the season with a 6-6 record and a 5-3 record in Mountain West action. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, Memphis has an 80.5 percent chance to win.